Thanks to the “A Tree Gives Life” campaign, citizens and local entities are helping to reforest the Municipality.

During the month of February, around 20,000 trees of different indigenous species were handed to the population and entities of the Municipality of Loulé in a gesture that will help to reforest the territory.

In total, the “Uma Árvore dá Vida” (A Tree Gives Life) campaign received 283 applications, delivering 20,000 trees, of which 1800 were handed to the Alte Parish Council, the project’s most significant participant.

The numerous citizens and organisations who signed up to participate in the initiative will now plant these carob trees, olive trees, oaks, cork oaks, and arbutus trees, among other species, on their land and in their gardens to help increase the Municipality’s green area. The aim is to run this campaign biannually.

 

As councillor Carlos Carmo explained, the idea came from the desire to go beyond the awareness actions the Municipality carries out annually, such as planting trees to commemorate International Tree or Autochthonous Forest Day. “We thought we should have a different kind of attitude. Together with the group working on Loulé’s Forestry, Biodiversity and Rural Development Sustainability Agenda, we decided to challenge the population to sign up to receive indigenous tree species”, he said.

One of the project’s particularities and added values lies in georeferencing the trees. This will enable municipal technicians to monitor them, calculate the carbon saved, measure the incidence of fires and identify which species are most resilient.

The project is part of the Municipal Climate Action Plan, which incorporates 72 initiatives to “increasingly reforest our mountain range, our forest area, in an organised manner”. On the other hand, and as Carlos Carmo underlines, the “Uma Árvore dá Vida” campaign will allow us “to maintain and increase our identity through biodiversity”, as the trees are native species.

“It is through attitudes and actions such as these that we are contributing to offsetting the emissions we all make”, noted the official.

On behalf of the Alte Parish Council, Adriano Cabrita expressed total openness to receive this type of initiative. “Alte has been very sensitive to issues related to the forest area”, he said.

“A Tree Gives Life” is one of the tree planting strategies the Municipality of Loulé has adopted over the last few years to offset greenhouse gas emissions. Since 2017, close to 50,000 trees have been planted thanks to initiatives such as Montanha Verde, the Alfarroba Project, replanting works in the Aldeia da Quintã Condominium and the distribution of trees among the population during environmental celebrations.